On Thursday, we lost some of that right, when Gov. Tony Evers directed the DNR to close 40 state parks properties due to “unprecedented crowds, litter, vandalism and out of an abundance of caution to protect public health and safety.”

It was something I feared was coming, and it was a case where I didn’t want to be right.

We could have a heated debate about that, and I’m sure many of you will be engaging in that "debate" on social media and in my email inbox over the next few days.

But the governor and the Department of Natural Resources had their reasons — good reasons, which I agree with.

I love our outdoor spaces, and I’m sad that we can’t enjoy some of them right now, especially as the weather gets nicer. But we are living in unprecedented times that call for unprecedented measures.

I'm not a doctor or a public health expert, but I am a journalist, immersed in news about the outdoors and this virus. Here is what I know:

COVID-19 is a serious, deadly disease that can spread when people come into close contact. This can happen inside, say, in a bar, AND outside — say, on a narrow trail when people are passing each other.

As our indoor entertainment options have disappeared, more people are going outside looking for something to do. That has led to big crowds at popular state parks in Wisconsin. Even at big parks, those crowds were congregating and interacting in parking lots and on popular trails.

Some of those trails — like those on the East Bluff at Devil’s Lake — are narrow, making it impossible to pass someone while maintaining 6 feet of social distance.

Even on trails where it is possible to maintain social distance, people are not doing it. I witnessed this on trails in Milwaukee, and DNR staff witnessed it on trails in state parks.

Some of the crowds visiting parks together clearly did not live together — unless there are a record number of quintuplet teenagers living in Wisconsin right now.

A scenic look at Milwaukee’s Lakeshore State Park before it closes

Because of coronavirus, the DNR was ordered by Gov. Tony Evers to close 40 Wisconsin state parks, including Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee.

With lots of people — including some who are not usual parks visitors — come lots of problems. Most Wisconsin state parks are carry-in, carry-out. That means they do not have trash bins, and visitors need to take all their trash home — including pet waste. With so many visitors, trash was piling up in parks.

Even if there was enough staff to clean up after people (which there isn’t, since parks are already stretched thin and are not at their summer staffing levels), it would be at a great risk to their health.

Parks were seeing increased vandalism, too, in both the conventional form (tagging), and in people stealing toilet paper and hand sanitizer from whatever bathrooms remained open.

Frankly, we had our chance and we blew it. Or, as often happens, some people blew it for all of us.

Does that suck? Yes. It also sucks that there are millions of people out of work and thousands of people dying. This is not “media hype.” It’s real, and it could get worse if we don’t take serious measures now.

At the end of the day, people’s lives are on the line, and we all need to make sacrifices to save as many lives as we can. For now, that means sacrificing access to some of our state parks, and that’s something we can all do.

For now, Milwaukee County Parks remain open, and we can still go outside and walk around in our own communities (and we should stay in those communities). I'm thankful for that, but I'm nervous we might lose that soon, too.

So let's learn from our mistakes, and follow the rules that have been put in place to save lives. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get back to enjoying all the outdoor places we love.